Josh Barta
jbarta@uwyo.edu
UW Staff Senate discussed the realities of future budget cuts and departments that may be displaced due to the budget cuts.
Associate Vice President of Operations Mark Collins filled in for Vice President of Administration Bill Mai who was busy meeting with members of the board of trustees. Collins presented the current state of the budget cuts.
“Each division has already begun a fair amount of work on the budget reductions,” Collins said. “We’re asking each of those managers and directors to use their best judgment in terms of where we can allocate those reductions.”
In light of the recent proposed budget cuts, departments at UW are going to be evaluated. Currently the UW Department of Modern and Classical Languages is being evaluated.
“Ultimately in the next few years all departments at UW will be reviewed and evaluated,” David Jones, vice president of academic affairs said. “We decided to start with programs that are in lesser demand.”
Collins also brought to attention the planned construction of the stretch of Ivinson Street that spans UW’s campus. The road is known for having many potholes and minimal street markings, such as a dividing line.
“Due to some funding constraints that are also being faced by the City of Laramie, that particular project has been delayed,” Collins said. “At the earliest, it will begin in 2017.”
Mark Burcheney of human resources addressed concerns with the decrease of job openings at UW from last year.
“Month-to-month through 2015 we would have about 75 to 90 job openings at any given time,” Burcheney said. “Right now we are at about an average 50. That is a 35 percent decrease in openings we have had available.”
This could be due to the hiring freeze UW has placed on all departments.
ASUW President Brian Schueler announced a change in class syllabuses that will take place in future semesters.
“We have passed a bill that requires syllabi to include a clause which requires staff to report instances of sexual misconduct even if asked by the student not to,” Schueler said. “Our ultimate goal is for students to know that staff have a right to abide by the laws governing these issues.”
With student elections coming up, another bill was passed to give incoming freshman a chance to have a voice on who will be their class president before they arrive on campus.
“The freshmen who will be coming to campus next semester have no chance to vote or run in the elections,” Schueler said. “So we felt it was important to provide them with a vote and say on the elections.”
